Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli has been busy lately–working to secure Chris Kelly and Gregory Campbell, dealing with the fallout from Tim Thomas‘ sabbatical decision, preparing for the draft and the opening of free agency–and now he has more good news to impart: Adam McQuaid and Nathan Horton are both doing much better.

McQuaid was sidelined after a concussion he suffered in late March and didn’t recover in time for the playoffs. He didn’t officially reveal that it was a concussion at all until exit day interviews, either. However, he’s been feeling better, not experiencing any symptoms for weeks now, and Chiarelli said that doctors in Boston recently gave him a full medical clearance.

Horton hasn’t made it as far down the road to recovery as McQuaid yet, but after missing much of the regular season and all of the playoffs, and with his past concussion history in mind, all good news is welcome. He’s started doing exertion exercises, things that are meant to raise the heart rate, things that are the last step in recovery for a player trying to get through post-concussion symptoms.

Better yet, Chiarelli fully expects him to get a full medical clearance soon and added that “there should be no problems” when it comes to Horton being ready for next season.

He recognized that Horton’s loss from the lineup had a ripple effect on the team–for example, the first full month without number 18 was February, a month that was generally just not very good in many ways. Perhaps with a healthy Horton back in the lineup, and a healthy McQuaid on the blue line, things will get better next season!